Soccer Dad

Walmart orthodoxy

OrthoMom points to a story in the NYT about WalMart's efforts to build a SuperCenter near Monsey. (According to the article, if successful in building the story, WalMart will close a nearby store in Airmont.)

I understand some of the complaints, but is Wal-Mart really bad for an insular Orthodox Jewish community. No doubt, as I'll write later, some small businesses could find themselves in trouble. But there's a place (and time) when Wal-Mart and the Hareidi world co-exist quite nicely - Monticello NY during the summer.

If you've ever gone to visiting day in the Catskills, part of the experience is a mandatory family outing to the Monticello Wal-Mart SuperCenter. It is the largest Wal-Mart I've ever been in.

Due to its proximity to Orthodox Jewish camps and bungalow colonies, it stocks an impressive array of products for Orthodox Jews. I doubt that any other Wal-Mart carries Mishpachah brand. And my wife noticed that the Monticello Wal-Mart also has modest summer clothes for women; not something that's always easy to find. And certainly difficult to find at reasonable prices.

I realize that none of this means anything to someone who believes that because of the low wages and economic displacement, Wal-Mart is evil. This is an understandable reaction of someone who is more familiar with pro-union ideology than with the discipline of economics.

But the low wage jobs that WalMart offers are an effective entry to the workforce for unskilled laborers. It gives them experience that allows them to either move up in Wal-Mart or find a job elsewhere when they're ready.

Wal-Mart's savings to consumers - especially low income consumers - measures not in pennies but in billions of dollars.

The major negative economic impact of Wal-Mart is the effect it has on small stores - mom and pop shops. According to a paper by West Virginia University professors competition from Wal-Mart will drive some smaller operations out of business, but other small businesses with different merchandise will replace them. Or

Saving traditional small ‘mom and pop’ businesses has been a justification for political and court decisions preventing Wal-Mart from opening new stores virtually everywhere across the United States. We present the first rigorous econometric investigation of how Wal-Mart actually impacts the small business sector. We examine the rate of self-employment and the number of smallemployer establishments using both time-series and cross-sectional data. Contrary to popular belief, our results suggest that the process of creative destruction unleashed by Wal-Mart has had no statistically significant long-run impact on the overall size and profitability of the small business sector in the United States.

And, while it's out of Wal-Mart's usual area of operation there's no denying that it was likely more effective in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina than any of 3 levels of government. It inspired columninst John Tierney to advocate for WEMA instead of FEMA.

As the evidence, Wolf, continues to mount, that the government managed to blow it pretty much on all levels, federal, state, local, when it came to Katrina, maybe it's time to look to the private sector for some meaningful results. For example, the world's largest company, Wal-Mart, actually improved its image as a result of Hurricane Katrina, so much so that John Tierney, who is an op-ed columnist for "The New York Times," is suggesting today putting Wal- Mart CEO Lee Scott in charge of rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

Now, Wal-Mart trucks rolled in right after the hurricane hit, long before any government assistance showed up. The stores opened their doors, said, take what you want. They gave away supplies to the people who needed them. The company had its own emergency operations center in place and operating a week before Katrina hit. It sounds like the government could take some lessons.

So, the question for this hour is this: Should the Hurricane Katrina recovery be turned over to Wal-Mart? Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. CaffertyFile.com -- one word. And we will read some of your letters a little later.

One footnote to this. In 1997, Congress gave FEMA $500,000 and they said, we want you to take this money and develop an evacuation plan for the city of New Orleans. FEMA gave the money to the state of Louisiana and they used it to study building a bridge. So, you know, the government just continues to amaze as we move through this thing.

This is not to say that Wal-Mart is altruistic. It isn't. It's a business. But a well run business benefits many people and the good it does vastly outweighs the bad it causes.

I guess we'll see if the Monsey community will eventually see it that way.

Other comments SerAndEz and Emes Ve'emunah.

wal-mart, monsey, new york, orthodox judaism.